


The Space in Between

by Thesuspiciousflyingjellyfish



Category: Original Work
Genre: Dimension Travel, Gen, Urban Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:35:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27639643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thesuspiciousflyingjellyfish/pseuds/Thesuspiciousflyingjellyfish
Summary: Mordacai, or Cai, has lost his sister. And unfortunately needs the help from a renown sorceress, Lilith.
Kudos: 3





	The Space in Between

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little idea i had inspired by this link on tumblr.
> 
> https://apple-duty.tumblr.com/post/634469179125317632/swollennugs-this-is-the-space-you-enter-when

Gasping in shock, Mordacai flailed off the couch and thumped to the floor. Face not so lovingly cushioned on the hardwood floor, he sucked in deep breaths as Lilith called from across the room.

“What did you see!?”

Squeezing his eyes closed, Cai hurriedly focused on the point of view of his twin, trying to recall all the details of where she was. Banging his head none-to-gently on the ground, he grunted out, “Sea side. Black stones on the beach instead of sand.”

She clucked her tongue in annoyance and remarked, “Okay, a little more detail will be needed, because many dimensions have that shit.”

With irritated shushing noises at her, Cai barked, “I know shut up! Let me think, _fuck_!”

Thankfully she did, and he kept his eyes shut tightly, breathing in deeply as he muttered, “Okay. Okay okay-hot.” He recalled, “It was, weirdly, hot. There was wind, and being by the water, you would think it would be cold but it was so hot.”

She hummed in thought after a pause, the sound of pages flipping, “Mmhm. What else?”

Still lying face down, he turned his head to the direction of her voice, and said, “The sky. It was...orange?”

At his questioning tone, she parroted, “‘ _Orange_ ’? Are you absolutely sure about that, or was it at sunset when you saw all this?” At her deeply serious tone, he cracked an eye open, and nodded at her.

“No. I’m sure it was orange. There was no sun.”

She turned another page and tapped it in thought, “What about a shadow? Did you see her shadow.”

Stuttering, he closed his eyes once more, trying to grasp at the fading strands of the connection. “I-yeah? I think so? It was short, really close to her feet.”

A puff of breath, and she murmured, repeating back his recollection slowly. “So noon, but no sun and the sky was orange.”

“Yeah.” He confirmed.

“What about smell? What about sound?” Lilith continued to probe and Cai blinked open his eyes, and squinted in thought.

“I-just the see. I, uh, I just heard the sound of the waves crashing.”

She frowned a tilted her head, her green eyes staring into his brown in thought. “Scent?” She questioned.

He pushed himself up into a slumped sitting position, arms resting on his knees. Cai swallowed with difficulty, mouth dry. “Ash. It-it was like I was breathing in the smoke from a bonfire.” And he could still taste it on his tongue, feel that suffocating sensation in his lungs. He could only worry and fret about what his sister was going through, only having a small glimpse at her current reality.

Genevieve, his younger twin, was kidnapped and currently trapped in another dimension. Cai would blame himself, if he didn’t know for a fact it was completely that Fae’s fault. Tricky bastards. ‘Evie worked with them, had a deal and contract that explicitly stated that under no circumstances could she be stolen away. The freaking queens of the Fae both agreed to that clause!

They were assholes, but when a deal was made they tended to stick to it. The memo though apparently didn’t get out to the rest of their kind, and when ‘Evie walked into a fairy circle so that she could talk the the summer queen, a moronic underling thought it would be a great idea to send her to a completely different dimension.

“Okay. I think I got the right world.” Lilith stated.

And now here he was, an upstanding mage and all around good guy, getting help from a sorceress and, if the rumours were to be believed, a necromancer as well. But he was out of options. His sister was all he had left, and Cai knew she would do the same for him.

He had thought to go to the Fae for help, but that would be a sign of weakness, and even if the queens agreed to not cause harm to his sister, throwing her into another dimensions isn’t, technically, harming her. So they wouldn’t really care to help anyways as they could find another human-fae ambassador if need be.

‘ _By the stars, do I hate loopholes._ ’ He fumed inwardly as he stood up and walked over to Lilith. She was shorter than him, but being 6’4” that wasn’t unusual with most people. Hair bleached white with the sides buzzed and the top braided back, you wouldn’t think of her as an all-powerful sorceress.

Cai began to peer over her head to look at the book on the worktop table, but she slammed it closed before he could really look at it. Frowning in annoyance, he didn’t say anything as she spun back around.

“The world we are going to is a volcanic world.” She began to inform him, too chill for his liking. “There is a sun, but it’s too distant to do much in terms of warmth, but that’s where all the volcanoes come in. Practically all of them are active and only a few places are truly liveable.”

Fists clenching and unclenching, he muttered, “That doesn’t sound good.”

Lilith blew a raspberry and flapped her hand dismissively. “Oh this will be an easy trip. Just a quick walk through The Space Between, find the right portal, and then use your twin connection to locate her. After that, I will make a portal to her and we once again walk back through The Space. Easy as pie.” And she snapped her fingers as a demonstration at how ‘ _easy_ ’ it would be.

Cai frowned, “Pie is difficult to make.” He pointed out and she tossed up her hands in exasperation.

“Fine, easy as sandwich.” And then began to whisk around her work room, Cai watching as she picked things up and either put them back or toss them into a bag she pulled from somewhere. First was standard things, like water bottles, a medical kit, etc. Then she tossed in what looked like a mini chemistry set for bomb making. Following that was a vial with some deep purple liquid and a label that just said, ‘ _NO_.’

It was when she was weighing a machete in her hands that he stepped in. “Okay,” Lilith turned his way as she strapped the blade to her waist, looking too casual. “Is where we are going dangerous?”

Lilith shrugged, scanning the room, “No more dangerous than other worlds.” She commented nonchalantly. But then perked up with excitement, turning back to him, “Oh! But this one world, it literally rains rocks and-“

Cai quickly interrupted her, “No! I meant this...Space in Between. Is it dangerous?” And Cai wouldn’t never call himself a coward, but he was cautious and that’s what kept him alive.

She blinked up at him like he was stupid. “Uh, _duh_?” And then rolled her eyes which he found completely uncalled for. “It’s the space between dimensions. All sorts of void and eldritch creatures live there. It took centuries for people to figure how to navigate it.” Lilith said all this like it was common information, but Cai would heavily disagree with that.

“And. _We_ , are going there.” He spoke hesitantly, like he hoped she would change her mind.

Lilith must have noticed his uncertainty because she grinned and gave his arm a friendly punch in reassurance. It wasn’t very reassuring as it hurt like a motherfucker. “Hey don’t worry! I’m an expert at this shit! It’s a walk in the park for me.”

At her wide grin he gave a wary one back and asked, “And me?”

Hands one her hips, she rolled her green eyes once more. “Dude, you worry too much. As long as you follow the rules and my lead we will be in and out in no time.”

She then turned back around and continued on her task of putting together the weirdest and most concerning survival pack. Flicking his eyes around the work room, Cai cleared his throat and asked another question.

“So, what are the rules then?”

Zipping up her bag, she swung it over her shoulders and came to his side again. Wrapping a black scarf around her head so that it covered her mouth and nose, she tossed another one at him. Fumbling, he copied her look, heart beating with nerves at what they could possibly need them for.

“First rule,” She began, holding up a finger. “No talking. The Space in Between is a no talking zone. It can summon all sorts of nasty creatures.”

Swallowing hard, Cai wondered at how the previous travellers managed to learn that rule.

“Number two!” A second finger went up, “If you see another traveller, do not interact or stop their journey. You must always keep moving in The Space, and to stop another is to be a dick and potentially get them lost forever.” He hastily nodded after seeing the stern glare sent his way, nonverbally promising to not distract anyone.

Nodding back in approval, a third finger came up. “Three, music is your friend!” Lilith declared cheerfully. “The closer you are to music, the closer you are to a portal. All portals have a different song playing. The first successful travellers set them up so that they could remember each different portal. Don’t want to be wandering into the wrong one, ay?” And she nudged him in the ribs, and sly grin seemed to have appeared on her face, going by the squinting and amused eyes.

He rubbed at his tender side and continued to listen with growing fear. ‘Did ‘Evie have to travel through this when she was pushed into another dimension?’

Though his mind was caught on her third rule, connecting back to the first. “But I thought speaking wasn’t allowed. Why would music be okay to play?”

“Void creatures aren’t stupid. When they first heard the music, of course they flocked to it. But when they realised it wasn’t a living being making noise, they left the music alone.”

Cai blinked at her frank tone and weakly remarked, “Oh. That’s...handy.”

“And last rule!” She then suddenly snatched up his hand, startling the tall man. “We must hold hands!”

He squinted down at the joined fingers and dryly asked, “Is that a real rule or an excuse to hold my hand?”

Eyes still crinkled in a smile she responded, to amused for his liking, “Both. We do need to stick together, but you look on the verge of a mental breakdown, so comfort seems to be necessary.”

Cai rolled his eyes, but couldn’t stop the small smile creeping on his own face. The scarf luckily obscured how fond he was slowly feeling towards her. Lilith had this weird, childish energy about her, making it easy to forget that she was a terrifyingly powerful sorceress.

“So why do we need scarfs?”

“We look cool.”

“For _fuck_ sake-“

“Close your eyes and hold your breath!” She steamed rolled over his cursing. “I will squeeze your hand twice to let you know when you can open them back up and breathe again.”

Letting out an irritated sigh, he complied, sucking in a deep inhale.

Cai couldn’t pick up on the words she spoke, but as soon as they left her mouth, the air became heavy with some unknown force, the work room becoming too silent to be natural. Like weight pressing on his shoulders, the sudden sensation had him nearly stumbling when it abruptly lifted a few seconds later.

Lilith squeezed his hand twice, and his eyes flew open, inhaling silently as Cai took in his surroundings.

It looked like a forest at night time. A light was coming from them, making him able to see the floor and a few feet ahead. But when he turned to look at Lilith, wondering when she pulled out a flashlight, he blinked in confusion at the lack of one in her hand. Twisting his head around, he couldn’t find the source so he looked up.

His heart stuttered at the space above him. Trees stretch up into a weighted darkness, not a star or moon to be seen. A thick blackness that Cai had to quickly look away from, his already unnerved mind feeling unravelled just looking at it even for a split second.

And then Lilith tugged his hand and they began to march forward.

It wasn’t the worst experience really, but the silence, interspersed with distant music of all kinds was freakish. Allowing Lilith to lead him in the right direction, and he had no idea how the fuck she knew where to go, Cai swivelled his head around, just trying to see beyond the weird light that they had.

At one point he swore he saw something move in the distance, and quickly looked away, not wanting to gain it’s attention.

Finally though, an old, upbeat 20’s song was playing not too far from them. It was too cheerful for a dark place like this, creating the most sinister vibes. The happy tune of trumpets felt like a death march as they neared the music.

And there, on a modern office chair with wheels, was an old vinyl record player sitting in the seat of the black leather. The music continued on playing joyfully, ignorant and uncaring for the slow crumbling walls of his sanity.

And then, as they stepped past the disturbing scene, the darkness lifted. And Cai was momentarily blinded by bright, orange light.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
